Thursday, March 10, 2011

In case it is not painfully obvious already, I LOVE celebrating special occasions. And why not? Shouldn't we take time to have a little fun now and then? And when it comes to our birthdays, we should absolutely celebrate and value our lives. I can definitely say I have enjoyed my life to the fullest this last year, and I intend to do the same in the year to come. Oh sure, the year wasn't perfect, but neither am I. All I can ask for is to live a happy life, to do what I love, and to be surrounded by people that I cherish.

Oh, and to eat.

So in the interest of letting my perfectionist self have a little rest, put my feet up, and enjoy a slice of cake today, I am just going to be short and sweet here: I made an old-fashioned birthday cake and I loved it.

This is the type of cake that my mother might have made for me as a child, and I would have ended up with robin's egg blue icing all around my mouth as I ate it. Even though I am an adult now, this type of cake still has an undeniable appeal to me, and I predictably still ended up getting icing everywhere. (And I am not ashamed to admit it.) This cake is perfect in its simplicity, with basic white cake layers with pure vanilla flavor, and vanilla buttercream and icing that you can tint any color your heart desires. There are aren't really any major bells and whistles, with the exception of edible gold stars that I couldn't resist putting on the cake to add a little sparkle.

Maybe I made this cake because it is a throw-back to younger years, or because I just wanted something that felt like home. Who knows, but what I can say is that this cake was just plain fun, I felt all giddy just looking at it, and the taste was exactly what I wanted. So if that doesn't describe a perfect birthday cake, then I don't know what does.

Thanks for celebrating with me, and I hope when your birthday comes around that your cake makes you feel giddy too. Enjoy the photos!

I initially saw a cake similar to this one on Sweetapolita, and I was immediately obsessed with the idea of making an old-fashioned cake. I wavered between tinting the cake robin's egg blue or pale yellow, but I decided on the former and I am thrilled with the choice. To get that color, I used a combination of Americolor gel food coloring in Sky Blue and Turquoise, and I can tell you that if you get it right it will exactly match a Tiffanys box. ;) The taste and texture of the cakes is perfection, and my vanilla buttercream frosting is something that I can rely on being fantastic every time. For the angel feather frosting, I might skip it the next time around and just frost the entire cake with buttercream; it was a little hard to work with and maybe not worth the extra effort. To frost this entire cake in buttercream, double the recipe below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare round cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray or greasing the pans; then place parchment round in the bottom of the pan and spray or grease that as well.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. To make the cake batter, add the flour mixture and the ice water to the creamed butter, alternating between wet and dry ingredients and beating after each addition After everything is well mixed, add the vanilla and almond extracts, mix again to incorporate, and then fold in the beaten egg whites until the batter is smooth. Divide evenly between the prepared pans, smooth the top of the batter, and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes completely on cooling racks, then remove from the baking pans and discard the parchment. Cakes can be prepared ahead of time - kept well-wrapped they can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for 1 week.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter until smooth, then turn to low and add powdered sugar in two additions. Beat on low until incorporated, then beat on medium speed until the frosting is smooth. (Sifting your powdered sugar ahead of time helps to get a smooth frosting.) Add the salt, vanilla extract, and milk, and beat until smooth again. If the frosting is thick enough for you, add any coloring you like; use immediately or refrigerate tightly sealed. To make the frosting thicker, add an additional 1/2-1 cup powdered sugar. To make the frosting thinner, add an additional 1-2 tbsp milk.

Recipe for Angel Feather Frosting, from Food that Really Schmecks:I didn't quite realize it when I made this frosting, but it has a texture very similar to fluff, which is interesting because I was expecting it to be more fluff-y. Just be forewarned, that although it is extremely delicious, it is also tricky to work with.

Combine all the ingredients except for the vanilla extract in the top of a double boiler over high heat. (I would be remiss if I didn't remind you not to let the top bowl touch the boiling water below. No one wants scrambled eggs in their frosting!) Use a hand mixer or beater immediately start whipping the eggs, and continue to do so until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract, and continue beating until it is cooler and thick enough to spread. (Mine became very thick.) Add coloring if you like, and use immediately to frost your cake.

To assemble cake: place one cake layer on a cardboard round or serving plate, add a layer of buttercream icing, then top with a second cake layer. Repeat for with the icing and the third cake layer. Then use the buttercream to add a thin crumb coat of frosting all over the cake, and smooth out the sides and top. This is done most easily using an offset spatula. Put the cake in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, then use either the angel feather icing or a doubled batch of buttercream frosting to cover the rest of the cake. Decorate with edible gold stars or sprinkles if you prefer. If using the angel feather icing, it is best to frost the cake and serve it immediately. If using buttercream frosting, the frosted cake can be kept refrigerated and covered overnight.

Happy birthday and many more wonderful ones to come! I wholeheartedly agree that we have to celebrate our special days, no matter how old we are:)Have a great day, and a great birthday week! Love the color of the cake and the stars:)

Happy Birthday! Is it today (the 10th)? Because so is mine! I don't have my cake ready to go yet, and likely won't post for a few days. But yours is beautiful. Love the colour and the old-fashioned feel!

Hope you have a very Happy Birthday! Beautiful cake, I remember my mom making a similar icing, can't remember the name though, will have to ask her about it. Hope you do some relaxing after all the work you did on this cake.-Gina-

Happy birthday! I love the colors! And the cake looks yummy although I'm completely in love with smitten kitchen's best birthday cake too.

I was so lucky for my latest birthday that my mum and my niece baked me a really cute vanilla cake with berry buttercream. It wouldnt have won any awards, but it made me so happy to have my family around me with a home made cake and some candles to blow out!

Happy Birthday! This cake reminds me of family reunions and all of the eagle-eyed Aunties and Grandmas who kept us kids out of the goodies until it was time. The color, the three layers and the sticky marshmallow-y frosting all look like perfection. I am so not a baker but you're sure making me wish I were. <3

Happy Birthday Sister! Love the color and the gold details! Totally wish I could have spent this lovely day with you...Definitely am going to take you up on the offer to make a cake for me next time I come to visit :)

I remember my Mom always baked a cake every time she tried to make divinity candy. That way if the divinity didn't turn out we had the best frosting for that cake. I always hoped for failed divinity. Your cake looks awesome & I can almost taste it! Well done.

Happy Birthday!I love the color of the cake, Tiffany blue,or robin's egg blue. I've never had a Tiffany box, but maybe this year:) Your cake is exquisite, perfect for Pisces birthday! My birthday is next weekend, so maybe I should make one of these for me, edible glitter and all. thanks

Happy Birthday, my friend!!! You celebrated in style!! While I'm not really a cake person, this one would have tempted me in a big way. Yes, the frosting on the candles is my favorite part. Love the shots of your flowers, simply beautiful. Perfect for a lovely celebration! Oh, my daughter is commenting on the sparkles on top of the cake... her competition dance season fires up this weekend and we have been up to our elbows in rhinestones for the last few days. She says they look like rhinestones and now wants them for her birthday too!

So pretty, and the stars are a great touch. Any tips on the food coloring? I need frosting that exact color for a cake this weekend. Did you use sky blue with green? Or is there a better combo to get that Tiffany blue color? Thanks!

Hi friends! Thanks for the warm birthday wishes, the day (and the whole week!) was a blast! :D

I have received lots of questions by email or comment about the color of the cake: To get that color, I used a combination of Americolor gel food coloring in Sky Blue and Turquoise. I can't give you any exact number of drops to use in order to get that color, but I use probably something like a 1:3 ratio of Sky Blue to Turquoise. Just keep in mind that if whether or not your frosting has butter (which adds yellow color) will impact the final color of your frosting.

Hi! I just made this cake recipe last night after having tried Martha Stewart's Perfect White Cake with way less than perfect results. However, I had the same problem with this recipe- it comes out with similar shape, texture and density of a pancake. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? mixing the whites into the batter too much? bad baking powder?

Anonymous: Hi there! Glad you decided to try the cake, but I am sorry to hear you had bad results with this one and the Martha Stewart one (which I have also heard good things about). Since you had problems with both recipes, I can only assume that yes - the problem is either your technique (mixing the whites) or your ingredients (bad baking powder). However, I just checked out the Martha Stewart recipe, and hers doesn't call for beating the egg whites before adding so that is different in this recipe. While I don't think the egg whites are the cause of your pancake-like cake, I can suggest just being very delicate when you fold them into the batter.

That said, this sounds like a baking powder problem. How long have you had it, and have you had problems with any other baked goods? Both baking powder and baking soda have shorter shelf lives then you might think. You can test out the potency of your baking powder by adding it to water and looking for a reaction, like this: http://americastestkitchen.tumblr.com/post/2683968751/quick-tip-of-the-week-testing-baking-powder

Feel free to email me with any other questions, and good luck with your next baking project!

I made this tonight and it was wonderful! Yes, it was dense, but isn't that what "old fashioned" cake tastes like! It was just what I expected - most older homemade cake recipes were not light and fluffy like boxes. And...if this was supposed to be light and fluffy, then I did something wrong too!:) Oh well - it was just right to me! Thanks for this recipe!!! Oh - and I achieved a somewhat robin's egg blue (not quite Tiffany's) with regular blue and green food coloring - just kept mixing until I got the color I wanted! Thanks again! Michele

oh my this looks amazing!!! and I'm obsessed with sweetapolita but have been way to scared to try and make any her recipes for fear that they will be subpar and then I will have totally butchered a delicious recipe.

I made this cake. I have searching for an old fashioned white cake. I wanted that "birthday cake" "wedding cake" taste. Well, this is it. This is the best white cake recipe I have ever made and the odd thing is that the recipe is so simple. My 19 year old daughter said "This is like wedding cake" and she is right.

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Your outer frosting is also called Mazetta, and is used to make fondants and nougat in candymaking. If you boil the syrup separately and beat the egg whites in a mixer, then slowly mix in the syrup after it's cooked, you save yourself the hassle of having to make it over a double boiler.

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